Elon Phoenix Set to Host Randolph College in Preseason Men’s Basketball Exhibition

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s basketball team is set to play its lone preseason contest on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. against the Randolph College WildCats as the Phoenix prepares to begin its final season inside historic Alumni Gym.

GAME NOTES

The price of admission for reserved seating is $5. Tickets to the game are included in purchases of season ticket packages. To purchase season tickets, click here.

You can listen to the game live on WSJS 104.5 FM/1200 AM with Taylor Durham and Brian Morris on the call. Pre-game coverage begins 30 minutes before tipoff.

THE MATCHUP
This will be the second consecutive season that Elon and Randolph College have faced each other in a preseason exhibition. The Phoenix defeated the WildCats 88-43 last season on Nov. 1, 2016 inside Alumni Gym. Tyler Seibring led the way with a game-high 15 points for the maroon and gold.

EXHIBITION GAMES
The Phoenix has a perfect 10-0 record in exhibition games under head coach Matt Matheny. In addition to Randolph College, prior opponents in the last 10 contests have included William Peace, Emory & Henry, Lynchburg, Ferrum, Washington & Lee, and Greensboro College.

CAA PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Phoenix has been predicted to finish third in the league as the CAA released its preseason men’s basketball poll on Oct. 18, during the conference’s digital media day. College of Charleston was picked the favorite to win the league. Elon had two players earn preseason all-conference honors as Tyler Seibring was named to the first team and Brian Dawkins collected second team honors.

A LOOK AT ELON
• Elon returns all five starters and its top five scorers from a team that finished 18-14 overall and placed tied for fourth in the CAA with a 10-8 mark in 2016-17.
• Four of the five starters averaged double-figure scoring last season, led by 2016-17 All-CAA Second Team forward Seibring who averaged a team-high 14.4 ppg.
• Dawkins finished second on the team in scoring at 12.9 ppg, while Steven Santa Ana and Dainan Swoope each scored 11.7 ppg. Dmitri Thompson posted 8.9 ppg as a junior last season.
• Dawkins, Thompson, Jack Anton, Jack George and Collin Luther make up this year’s senior class.
• Elon also made three additions this past offseason, bringing in freshman guard Nathan Priddy and forwards Simon Wright and Duje Radja into the fold.

GETTING DEFENSIVE
• Elon led the league in field goal percentage defense (42.1%) during CAA games in 2016-17. Elon held 11 of its last 13 opponents to under 45% shooting from the floor to close out the year.
• Elon averaged 28.6 defensive rebounds per game, which ranked 14th in NCAA Division I and first in the CAA to end the year.
• The maroon and gold ranked second in the league in 3-point field goal percentage defense (32.6%), just behind College of Charleston (31.8%).

ELON NOTES
• Seibring was named to the All-CAA Second Team last season. Seibring became Elon’s first second-team selection and highest all-conference selection as a member of the CAA. It’s was highest overall selection since Lucas Troutman ’14 was a first-team honoree in 2014.
• Seibring was also named to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team. He became the first Academic All-American selection for the program since Drew Spradlin in 2011.
• For the third consecutive season, Elon has had the most players of any team in the league selected to the CAA All-Academic Team. The Phoenix topped its total from the first two seasons in the CAA with four selections in 2016-17.
• The Phoenix has had balanced scoring last season. Six different Elon players scored 20 or more in a game during the 2016-17 campaign. Thompson was the only Phoenix last season to score 20+ in two consecutive games.
• Elon has eclipsed the 15 or more win total for fifth consecutive seasons. It was the first time program has done so since the 1987-88 season.
• In conference games only, Elon finished second in the league shooting 73.2% from the line through 18 games. Elon made 80% or above from the line in six of those contests.
• Elon began the season with a 6-1 mark, the best start in 29 years through the first seven games. In addition, it was Elon’s best start in program’s Division I era since 1999 and also the program’s best start as a member of the NCAA.
• The last time an Elon squad won at least six of its first seven games was in 1987-88 when the Fighting Christians, members of the NAIA, also started the season 6-1 overall.

HEAD COACH MATT MATHENY
The 2017-18 season marks the ninth year at Elon for head coach Matt Matheny. Matheny enters this season with a career record of 126-130 as a Phoenix. He is currently third on the all-time wins list in program history. He is 36 wins from surpassing Graham “Doc” Mathis into second all-time.

SCOUTING RANDOLPH COLLEGE
Randolph College is a NCAA Division III institution out of Lynchburg, Va. They compete in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC). The ‘Cats were picked to finish 10th in the ODAC’s 2017-18 Preseason Poll after finishing with a 7-19 record overall and a 4-12 league mark. The WildCats will be led this year by second-year head coach Pete Hamilton. He returns all of his starters from a year ago which includes ODAC Third Team selection Ryan Fields. Also returning is Reid Jacoby, Andy Toe, Brian Smith, and Nick Goble. Fields was the team’s leading scorer with an average of 16.8 points per game.

UP NEXT
The Phoenix opens the 2017-18 season on the road at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the top-ranked Duke Blue Devils on Friday, Nov. 10. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be aired on ACC Network Extra.